Brendan Lines 17 March, 2020

While Supercars’ decision around the COVID-19 pandemic effect on the 2020 season is pending, Seven-time series Champion Jamie Whincup says the Red Bull Holden Racing Team is pretty used to handling ‘curve-balls,’ Local Goals caught up with the champ, who is ‘social distancing’ back home in Brisbane, to give us an insight to the reaction and current state-of-play in the Red Bull Holden garage.

Jamie Whincup – Image: Red Bull Content Pool

“Quite weird circumstances, we’re pretty used to that in sport, we’re used to just dodging curve-balls and expect the unexpected, we’ve pretty much thought we’d seen it all, but there’s always curve-ball around the corner,” Whincup says.

“It never fails to amaze us of what next could come up, motorsport is so exposed to all that stuff which makes the sport what it is.”

Despite what’s been described as ‘surreal’ scenes, in other reports last Friday, around the cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix as a result of a McLaren Racing team member testing positive for COVID-19.

The subsequent cancellation of the Melbourne 400 round of Supercars, was met with quite the opposite scenes as Whincup describes it.

“We were waiting patiently for them [Supercars] to make the call.” Whincup says.

“When it did, we completely understand the situation and the governing bodies all getting together to go ‘hey we got to control this situation’ the best thing to do that is for everyone to just stop,

“We respect the government’s decision to ‘Hey let’s try to get it under control’ and that means stop sporting events for a short time,” Whincup says.

Whincup weighed in saying he’s fine with going racing behind closed doors to ensure the 2020 season can move forward.

“One hundred per-cent if we can race with or without fans, I think that’s the best way to do it, to be honest that’s probably the best strategy — at least for the next one — is to try make the event happen without fans, rather than the whole thing stop.”

“Behind closed doors that’s fine, our fanbase want to see car racing, if anything, if they’re at home and don’t really want to go out, what better way to be able to sit in front of the TV and turn the Foxtel on watch us guys do our thing,” Whincup says.

After a strong start to the 2020 season winning Race 1 from pole at the Adelaide 500 and showing pace out of the box in Melbourne. Whincup took one of two poles on offer with team-mate Shane van Gisbergen, before the eventual kibosh of the weekend.

van Gisbergen and Whincup taking dual pole positions at Melbourne 400 – Image Red Bull Holden Racing Team.

Whincup says Triple Eight remains committed to its 2020 program and is using its time wisely now back at the factory.

“Because we’re committed to the Bathurst 12-hour, we’re a little bit back-logged to be honest with work involved or development, we’re using this time to really catch up on the areas that we’ve liked to have been a bit further forward in at this stage of the year,” Whincup says.

While there is a certain shroud of bleakness around the world of motorsport for the moment, as more events are postponed and cancelled with news overnight the 2020 Isle of Man has been cancelled.

Motorsport is no stranger to ‘weird circumstances’ as Whincup says, taking ‘curve-balls’ of the likes we are seeing in his stride, creates a much needed voice of calm to deal with what’s ahead. In what is very ‘fluid’ times for his team and for that matter, all the teams in the Supercars paddock.